IQIP Coordinator / Nurse

PHMC is proud to be a leader in public health. PHMC requires that all employees are fully COVID-19 vaccinated by the first day of employment. We will offer the Covid-19 vaccination at no cost, via our Health Centers.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH), Division of Disease Control (DDC), works to prevent, control, and report on diseases and conditions that are contagious and/or affect the public’s health. Within the Division, immunization services across the city of Philadelphia are supported by a robust immunization program that coordinates the Vaccines for Children (VFC) and Vaccines for Adults at Risk (VFAAR) programs, provides assessment and feedback to area providers and performs community-based outreach activities to families with under-immunized children. Our program also hosts a well-established immunization registry to which all Philadelphia providers are mandated to report. The registry (PhilaVax Immunization Information System) covers childhood, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Data provided by PhilaVax helps target outreach and assessment /feedback activities and helps support successful implementation of immunization recommendations. The overall goal of the immunization program is to increase vaccination for children and adolescents with all immunizations routinely recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices by reducing missed
opportunity, ensuring equitable access to vaccines and improving immunization delivery practices among providers.

The Immunization Quality Improvement Program (IQIP) is a strategy to raise immunization coverage levels and standards of practice at the provider level. This strategy relies on an assessment of current practices, vaccine coverage levels, utilization of immunization resources, and compliance with medical standards and federal regulations. A unique provider education and quality improvement plan is developed and implemented to address the needs identified during the initial assessment.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The IQIP Coordinator will direct IQIP and ensure the Immunization Program is meeting the standards set forth by the CDC for IQIP. The IQIP Coordinator will serve as the primary liaison between the Philadelphia Immunization Program and the CDC as it relates to IQIP. This includes attending quarterly conference calls and completing annual reports to CDC.
The IQIP Coordinator will also serve as the primary liaison between IQIP and the PhilaVax team. The IQIP Coordinator will sit on necessary workgroups with our IIS vendor and will provide needed testing to IIS enhancements as well as appropriate feedback to the IIS team about this testing.

The IQIP Coordinator will supervise at least two provider quality assurances (PQA) nurses. This supervision includes training PQA nurses on IQIP, assuring site visits are occurring appropriately, working with the PQA nurses to set annual goals, and ensuring they have skills to effectively complete their work. The IQIP Coordinator will work closely with our VFC and Adult VFAAR Coordinators to assess and assign sites to the PQA nurses with a goal of reducing burdens on provider sites. The IQIP Coordinator will perform VFC and of IQIP site visits annually. The IQIP Coordinator in collaboration with colleagues will be responsible for Immunization Program provider education in-services throughout the city of Philadelphia. Education programs will include medical assistants, office managers, physicians, nurses and other medical staff. The IQIP Coordinator will also be responsible for contributing to the development of immunization education materials including immunization standards, standing orders, power point presentations, immunization resources, and educational newsletter articles.  The IQIP Coordinator will report directly to the Immunization Program Manager.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve as the primary liaison between the Immunization Program and the CDC IQIP team
• Attend quarterly CDC conference calls and return annual report to CDC
• Oversee the CDC IQIP database and utilize the data to improve the program
• Serve as the primary liaison between the IQIP team and the IIS team
• Sit on VFC and IQIP related workgroups with our IIS vendor as needed
• Perform IIS enhancement testing in a timely fashion and provide feedback to our IIS team
• Supervise at least two PQA nurses working on VFC and IQIP
• Work with VFC Coordinator to determine annual schedule of visits to providers
• Use the IIS coverage data to ensure appropriate sites are being visited
• Conduct annual VFC and IQIP visits to VFC-enrolled immunization providers
• Manage and evaluate assessment data collected during provider visits
• Conduct immunization coverage rate assessments using the PhilaVax IIS and CoCASA
• Conduct educational trainings and assistance on vaccine management and administration, standards for pediatric, adolescent, and adult immunization practices, the PhilaVax IIS, and strategies to increase immunization coverage levels for DDC staff, community organizations and the public, as appropriate
• Participate in additional immunization education activities as needed
• Assist in the development of education materials geared toward the public and providers
• Attend and lead monthly Routine Immunization Team Meetings
• Participate in the review and writing the Cooperative Agreement Workplan, responsible for areas
  directly related to IQIP activities
• Support immunization activities throughout DDC including, but not limited to administering vaccine
  or Ig in the case of a vaccine preventable disease outbreak
• Support PDPH response to real-life public health emergencies as required
• Other duties as required

SKILLS:

• Must have excellent written and oral communication skills
• Must have strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• Must be able to work as part of a team
• Must have a basic understanding of project management and process improvement
• Experience implementing education and/or training programs.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new computer applications, comfort using databases, and proficiency
  utilizing on-line data management platforms.

Knowledge of:

• Theories, principles, and practices of nursing and their application in community health
  and clinic service settings
• Laws and regulations governing nursing practices
• Immunology
• Surveillance, prevention, and control of vaccine preventable diseases
• Vaccine administration techniques

EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in public health
• BSN
• Clinical experience is beneficial
• Supervisory experience is beneficial

EDUCATION REQUIREMENT:

• This position requires a Bachelors in the Science of Nursing.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must have valid driver’s license
• Must be authorized to work legally in the U.S.
• Ability to lift up to 50lbs

SALARY:

• Commensurate with education and experience
• $82,000-85,000
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CONTACT INFORMATION:
Submit Resume and Cover letters as one document to: Amber Tirmal, MPH
Address: 1101 Market St 12th FLR, Philadelphia, PA 19107
**E-mail: Amber.Tirmal@phila.go